Cursed
by Lecs
Summary: AU. We all know Orochimaru's curse seal was what pushed Sasuke to ultimately run away for power. Instead of sealing the youngest Uchiha though, what if he sealed the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata instead?
1. I Struggles

Author's Note:**  
**

Please make sure you read the A/N at the bottom of this chapter when you're done, it's very important! I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out when this chapter takes place, so I won't bother saying it now. As for romance, I don't have a set pairing yet, but I think I'm leaning towards making this a _potential_ _SasuHina_. I tell you guys this now so that you guys can't blame me if you still choose to read this and don't like the pairing. I warned you. The story and plot itself will progress slowly, so if you get bored with some scenes, feel free to drop this story and read something else. Everything has a purpose and I'm not writing anything without a reason. Keep that in mind! Also, please overlook any grammar/spelling errors, since I have no beta. They'll be fixed, eventually.

**Disclaimer: I will only say this once for the entire story as a whole. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

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**—**

** CURSED**

**—**

**by: Lecs  
**

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_Summary: AU. We all know Orochimaru's curse seal was what pushed Sasuke to ultimately run away for power. Instead of sealing the youngest Uchiha though, what if he sealed the Hyuuga heiress instead?**  
**_

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**I. Struggles  
**

The cool tiles actually felt good on her heated skin as she lay on her back, chest heaving up and down in an attempt to catch her breath. The match had only started half an hour ago, and yet she had already fallen twice. This was her third time.**  
**

"Get up, aneki," her sister ushered to her under her breath. Hanabi stared at her unmoving fallen sister, wondering if she heard her or if she just chose to give up.

While only a couple of minutes passed by in reality, it felt like hours in Hinata's head as she resumed laying on the ground, motionless. A part of her, the selfish part of her, wanted to stop pretending. At times like this, she really did wish she wasn't born a Hyuuga and wasn't burdened with its wretched curse to place power and honor above humanity. It hurt more sometimes to restrain herself than the physical pain countless fights like this inflicted. Every spar, every fight, every battle from verbal to physical was a test to her will; a test to uphold her responsibilities as an older sister.

And a daughter.

Everyone valued their pride, and even Hinata was not an exception to that fact. It was inept to feel a sort of arrogance — or rather confidence, in what you do, and only natural to feel like you need to back it up when someone challenges you and says otherwise. It was exemplified in multiple people, from her cousin Neji to her father, to Sasuke and the Uchihas before him, and even on her crush with the Kyuubi vessel. The hyperactive blonde was probably the strongest example of someone who wouldn't let you degrade him any less than what he really was, always fighting and trying to prove people wrong. His determination was one of the things Hinata admired; but unlike him, she was used to taming that pride. She had been suppressing it for nearly five years now, ever since she was but seven years old.

Though pride was valuable, some things were even more precious.

"Hinata?"

Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with similar eyes staring back into her own. Dressed in similar loose black sparring clothes, Hanabi stood before her sister to check if she was okay. Hinata nodded and smiled a little, sitting up and wincing a bit as she felt the sting from Hanabi's blow linger on the right side of her abdomen. The younger Hyuuga offered a hand, which Hinata was thankful for as she was brought back up onto her feet. The persistent silence of the room was far from peaceful and relaxing as Hinata surveyed the rest of the dojo with diligent eyes. Sensing her sister's intentions, Hanabi answered her unspoken mental question, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

"Father left when you fell... he said he had other things to take care of and had to get it done soon."

While younger Hinata in the past would have lowered her eyes in shame and disappointment, this Hinata simply nodded, externally masking her face to one of indifference and acceptance.

She was used to this, too.

She smiled to herself at Hanabi's excuse to try and downgrade the real reason of why their father departed. She had her suspicions that while it may be true her sister was probably sympathetic and pitied her, she was certain her sister was also one of the only few among others — being Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai-sensei — that truly did love and care for her. Though she wasn't obvious or direct with her feelings, she could read Hanabi's subtle signs through the little things she did each day. From her special smile — one that she'd only share with her — when they'd acknowledge each other in the hallways, to when she'd be seen patiently waiting for her by her room after a mission, with the intentions of asking her how it went and if she was injured. The only person in her family who bothered to ask.

When she knew that her love and affection with her sister was mutually reciprocated, it made the burden in her heart bearable; Hanabi reminded her of her promise, and what she was striving to protect.

"I see..."

Hanabi turned her head away, unable to deal with looking at her sister's face while a range of emotions were eating her up on the inside.

**_Anger... _**

**_Triumph... _**

**_Guilt... _**

**_Fear..._**

Unbeknownst to her older sister, Hanabi often blamed herself for putting her in her situation. And unbeknownst to her younger sister, Hinata often blamed the clan.

_They always did say blood was thicker than water..._

Jumping off the elevated sparring stage and slowly making her way to the exit, Hanabi snapped out of her own thoughts and spoke up just as her hands grazed the cool brass handle of the dark cherry-wood doors, causing her to pause.

"He said to come meet him later tonight, when his business was taken care of."

Turning the handle and pushing outwards, Hinata mumbled a soft "Hai," as she gracefully slid though the doors and never looked back, leaving one contemplative Hanabi Hyuuga behind to stare at the spot where she was once standing.

_...but water tastes better._

**— X —**

She was still loosely clutching her side by the time she made it outside, walking along the path that would lead her back to the main house building. The sun was about two-thirds of the way from it's starting point in the east, signifying that it was just past 5 in the afternoon. As she continued walking, a bright blue bird chirping caught her eyes as she followed it's path towards the colorful cluster of flowers and plants. In the center of the plants were smooth rocks in various shades of grays and browns, organized around a small man-made lake with clear water as blue as the skies._  
_

Her mother's garden.

It's been a while since she's actually went there to relax and spend her free time just admiring the flowers. Missions and training have been consuming a lot of her time lately, which ultimately led her to ask fellow Hyuuga servants to take on her role of watering any dry plants and pulling out unwanted weeds. Hinata missed doing simple chores like that, on the contrary general belief that girls hated getting dirty and sweaty from being outside with boring old plants. The only other girl that would probably protest that assumption was Ino Yamanaka herself, Hinata mused.

Gardening was more than just a hobby for the Hyuuga heiress; it was an obligation, and a way to connect with her mother that enjoyed it just as much.

With a few hours left until night time, Hinata made her mind up and promised herself to stop by sometime in the future to come back and enjoy the garden on her own time, when she didn't have other matters to attend to. Team 8 had it's own training session a little less than an hour away at their usual training grounds, and she still had to change back into her normal ninja attire and gather her weapons pouch filled with the standard kunai and shiruken.

Resuming her quiet walk back to her room, she made her way up mahogany steps as she turned at the appropriate corridor. Because it was nearly silent throughout her whole walk, she nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise when she heard a door suddenly sliding open just ahead of her path, and heated eyes narrowed upon spotting her before simmering down into a cold glare.

"Hinata-sama."

Even with the formal suffix that was supposed to be respectful, Hinata could still feel the sense of _loathing_ and _mockery_ beneath the way he said her name; but again, she was used to it. And she honestly couldn't blame him.

"Hello, Neji-nii-san," Hinata softly greeted back, and offered him a sad, yet sincere smile.

Neji made no further attempts to respond back verbally, or let alone nod. Turning his gaze away from her face and towards the path in front of him, he passed her by without another word. She could hear his footsteps gradually fade away as he descended down the same steps she took to get up here.

Slumping her shoulders, she let out a sigh as she continued her trek to her room and slid the door open. Even if she was used to Neji's cold attitude towards her, it didn't mean she wasn't still hurt by it.

Power and riches really were nothing if it meant you had to sacrifice bonds with the ones you love — or rather _for_, those people. The name Hyuuga was truly a curse, indeed...

**— X —**

Roughly 15 minutes later, she was back in her standard cream colored jacket and navy slacks, already more than halfway in distance from leaving the Hyuuga Compound. With still over half an hour left before she was due to meet with her team, she decided she'd arrive early and get some last minute solo training by herself.

Arriving at the training grounds, Hinata made sure to stretch out before walking to one of the worn out wooden posts, where she'd normally practice. Forming a series of hand seals, she muttered a soft "Byakugan!" as chakra filled veins pulsated and protruded against the outside of her lavender eyes. Facing the wooden post in standard Jyuuken style stance, she began her assault and moved to raise one chakra laced palm.

**— X —**

Running a hand through long pink locks, Sakura sighed in frustration as she willed herself to _not _bash Naruto in the head for being too loud and drawing unwanted attention their way from the various civilians passing them by. From her peripheral view, she could see Sasuke pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, indicating that she wasn't the only one getting a headache from the blonde's constant shouting.

"Naruto, quit yelling already before I make you!" Sakura threatened menacingly, raising one of her hands in a fist in an attempt to back up her words.

"Ne, but Sakura-chan, it's been two hours already and Kakashi-sensei's still not here! And I have to go find Kiba!" Naruto whined in a slightly quieter voice with his hands in front of his face, as some sort of useless protection against Sakura's incoming punch.

"Tch. You should know Kakashi by now, baka." The Uchiha grunted from his leaning position against the bridge, both arms back behind the railings and eyes closed.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as his yelling went back to its original volume. "What was that, teme? Try saying that again to my face!"

"I just did." Sasuke calmly retorted. Before the blonde could shout anymore replies and make his way to his raven-haired team mate to instigate a fight, Sakura quickly cut him off by hitting him in the head.

"Enough already, Naruto! Save it for training later!" the pinkette scolded, cracking her knuckles and mentally patting her back in a job well done with her punch. A weeping Naruto held his head in his hands, as he began to protest yet again.

"Oww, that really hurt Sakura-chan..." Naruto rubbed the spot on his head where no doubt a big pink lump would form. "I just wish sensei would hurry up already..."

"What do you need to see Kiba for, anyways?" Sakura questioned, partially out of boredom and also from curiosity. Naruto wasn't one to usually have plans, aside from going out to eat at Ichiraku's or doing who knows what in his apartment. A grin quickly enveloped the blonde's face as he began to explain.

"We made a bet a while ago on who's team is better, and I gotta find him to see how many missions their team's done!" exclaimed Naruto. "Whoever wins gets to rub it in the other's face, and they can't do anything about it. Plus, winner and his team is treated by the loser at Ichiraku's!"

Sakura couldn't help but sigh, as Sasuke snorted beside her. It was very Naruto, and oh so very... _typical_.

In that moment, a spontaneous poof of gray swirls erupted in front of the three genin as the smoke slowly cleared to reveal their tardy silver-haired sensei. "Yo. Sorry to keep you guys waiting, I had to carry out a last minute request for a pretty lady while she had some other things to do."

"Liar!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled out, with fingers pointed at there sensei in accusation. Sasuke merely blinked, still unmoving from his spot against the bridge railing.

Kakashi sweat dropped at his team's lack of trust in his words. "No, really. I had to talk with Kurenai who was called on a sudden mission as a replacement for one of the other jounin, and she asked me to handle her team's training practice — "

"Wait wait, hold on," Naruto interrupted, "but you're supposed to be training with us!"

"I was getting to that, Naruto," the jounin sighed, "as you pointed out, since I'm scheduled to have training with you guys, I'll actually be making this a joint team training session today with Team 8."

At hearing his words, a grin easily came over the blonde again as he cheered. "Alright! Finally something new from the same old boring routine!"

Beside him, Sakura merely nodded as Sasuke remained indifferent, though his eyebrow was raised slightly. Kakashi continued. "Since Team 8 doesn't know about the sudden change, we're going to train at their training grounds instead since they were told to meet up there around 6. It's still early, but we might as well head there now so they're not confused and we can explain the deal to them."

With that said, all four shinobi made their way towards the forest in direction of Team 8's training grounds. Along the way, Naruto kept happily talking about how exciting this was going to be as Sakura nodded to signify she was listening, also pointing out to him that he didn't need to find Kiba anymore since he'd be there with us. To the side, Sasuke remained silent, though he mentally agreed with the dobe's point that this should at least be interesting. This meant new sparring partners, and more people to test his skills on. Trailing a few steps behind the three 12 year olds, Kakashi kept silent, too busy to make a comment as Naruto dragged the Uchiha into the conversation by suddenly proclaiming a race to their destination. Tuning the rest of the kyuubi vessel's words out, he turned his attention back to reading his favorite orange book.

Little did anyone know, beneath his mask was a smile.

**— X —**

"Hey, Hinata!"

Breathing deeply and somewhat similar to the match with her sister from earlier on, Hinata turned from her post to see a familiar figure running towards her with his trademark toothy grin on his face. Inside his coat, she could make out the white puff of fur that was Akamaru protruding from his chest.

"Hello, Kiba!" The pale-eyed kunoichi greeted him as he finally made his way to where she was standing, Akamaru jumping out of his jacket and landing on the ground to his side with his tail wagging happily.

"I'm surprised you're here too, I thought I was gonna be the one to get here first," the Inuzuka began, eyeing the post Hinata had just been training on. "Doing some solo training?"

Hinata blushed a bit and mutely nodded, as Kiba observed the post again, noting the newly indented depressions. "That's some serious hits there, just wait until we kick some butt at the exams!"

Hinata smiled wearily, shaking her head a little. "Thank you Kiba-kun... b-but I still need to perfect some of my moves with the tenketsu..."

"Don't worry about it Hinata, we still have a little less than 2 months left until it starts. We have plenty of time to train and perfect anything that's needed in the mean time," Kiba reassured her, as Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata merely nodded, as her thoughts told her otherwise...

Before she had the chance to go into further contemplation, a sudden shout was heard in the distance from the direction Kiba had just come from. Looking at each other for a second to confirm that the other had heard it as well, both genin turned their heads in the direction of the yelling as it grew louder, almost as if the person was heading towards them. When other voices accompanied the distinct high-pitched male one, it grew obvious that there were at least 3 people coming there way.

"Bastard, get back here!"

"You idiot, slow down!" someone yelled, in a voice that was distinctly female. Judging from the differences in volume, the female was most likely lagging behind chasing the other.

At first Hinata thought it was just her imagination, but at clearly hearing the familiar voice again, her heart grew louder and pounded harder in her chest as _he_ approached closer. What was he doing here?

"You're just too slow," came the reply of a deeper male voice. All too quickly, in a mere blink of her eyes, a body materialized in front of Hinata as she regarded a heavily breathing Sasuke Uchiha before her. A few seconds later, Naruto made an appearance as he took the spot beside Sasuke, breathing even more heavily with a scowl on his face.

"Teme, you cheated! You were supposed to wait until I said go!" Naruto accused the Uchiha, pointing a finger at him as the brunette in turn simply scoffed.

"You said to go on the count of _three_, dobe. You didn't specify."

Before Naruto could retort, Kiba interrupted and jumped in. "Hey hey hey, what's the big idea? And why are you guys here on _our_ training grounds?" The Inuzuka questioned, gesturing towards himself and his fellow team mate.

"Oh, hey there Kiba!" Turning his head, he nodded with a big smile on his face to the Hyuuga heiress, his anger and accusations towards the Uchiha temporarily forgotten. "Hi there Hinata-chan!"

Hinata couldn't help but remain silent for a few seconds after his greeting, too dumbfounded on the fact that he was actually talking to her! As red colored her cheeks, she mustered up some sort of reply back as she willed herself to calm down. "H-hello, N-Naruto-kun!"

Sasuke made no attempt to spout a greeting as he turned his attention away from the dobe and onto the dog boy and the stuttering girl in front of him. All of a sudden, disappointment washed over him as he realized that maybe this wouldn't be so interesting, after all. He was confident that he could beat the Inuzuka, in a lot of ways he was like the brunette version of Naruto; just get the idiot riled up with some smack talk, and his temper and rashness would be his downfall. The Hyuuga on the other hand was probably worth something, though he doubted it by the way she carried herself. _Soft. Diffident. Fragile._ He'd be surprised if she could even beat _Sakura_, who had just arrived panting on his other side. If he were lucky, maybe the bug boy who had yet to arrive would put up a challenge for him.

"You still didn't answer my question yet, Uzumaki," Kiba pointed out, while Akamaru barked after him for emphasis.

Saving Naruto from replying, Kakashi answered for him as he just arrived, casually strolling towards the spot in the center before the genin. Facing the two confused members of Team 8, the jounin began to explain. "Your sensei was called out on a last minute mission, and I agreed to watch over you guys until she came back. We'll be having a joint training session today."

The differences in the other's reaction to the silver-haired man's words was quite obvious, as a grin almost immediately formed upon Kiba's face and Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and slight nervousness. Training, with Team 7? With Naruto? Her stomach was doing flips!

"Heh, this 'oughta be fun. Eh, Akamaru?" the Inuzuka beckoned to the dog, who barked in agreement. Hinata remained silent as she nodded once, still trying to will her blush to go away.

Checking the sun's distance across the sky, Kakashi spoke up again. "I realize that we're all a bit early, but do you think your team mate will be arriving soon by the time we're supposed to start?"

"Ano, S-Shino won't b-be joining us, he left to go on a mission with his father yesterday... it was j-just supposed to be us and Kurenai-sensei... " Hinata replied.

Nodding in understanding, Kakashi tucked his infamous little book away in the safety of his jounin vest as he silently eyed each of the genin before him. _'Well, since it's an odd number, I guess I'm forced to spar with somebody...'_ he mentally concluded, partially upset that he won't be able to give his full attention to the next scene in Icha Icha Paradise. Wanting to give each member of his team a chance to work with someone new, he thought of the potential outcomes he could have for the spar.

Eyeing the blushing Hyuuga who was still staring at the hyperactive knucklehead, who was in turn trying to get Sakura's attention, he concluded that pairing her up with the blonde was probably too mean. She probably wouldn't be able to concentrate. As for Sakura, he had been meaning to give some attention to her since he was always busy with Sasuke or Naruto. Approving of his logic without any second thoughts, he voiced out the pairings.

"Sakura, you'll be sparring with me. Naruto, you're up against Kiba. Sasuke, you'll be with Hinata."

The kunoichi of the group were visibly upset with their partners — Sakura frowning while Hinata sighed — as Naruto eyed a grinning Kiba in a taunting manner. Sasuke said nothing as his hands remained in his pockets, expressionless as ever on the outside albeit a slight frown marring his face.

Breaking up into their assigned pairs, each couple spread out onto different sections on the grass. Choosing the center area since Kakashi and Sakura occupied the one to her right, Hinata eyed the blonde and her team mate make their way towards the left side of the field, engrossed in conversation with one another and catching tidbits of their rather loud conversation about bets and missions. A cough broke her out of her thoughts as she turned to give her attention to the brunette before her, who merely narrowed his eyes at her behavior.

"Keep your focus here, Hyuuga," the Uchiha demanded more so than suggested. With his hands out of his pockets and out to his sides, and his feet spaced out in preparation to move, Hinata gulped as she hesitantly took the standard Hyuuga style stance. Left hand and left foot facing out in front of her right one, with her right arm bent and close to her chest.

Though he wasn't too happy with his assigned partner, Sasuke told himself to treat it like it was a teaching lesson, which in a sense, was true. Though he's seen it been used in action before thanks to training exercises Iruka would give them from their Academy days, he's never fought a Byakugan user hand to hand in a fight. Sure, maybe he would've preferred someone stronger with the doujutsu like this girl's well-known older cousin, but Sasuke wasn't going to complain. He was going to take what he could get.

Taking a moment to recall anything he knew about the Hyuuga before him as they awaited Kakashi's signal to commence, little to nothing came to mind as he eyed her. If he was honest about it, he hadn't even recalled her name prior to this unexpected joint team mash up. All he knew was that she was heiress to her clan, and — thankfully — one of the few girls who had no interest in him whatsoever. Instead, she had a crush on the dobe, which she made obvious just a few seconds ago with her openly staring at him.

Broken out of his train of thoughts, he was turned back to reality as Kakashi suddenly gave them the signal to start the spar. Smirking slightly, he closed his eyes momentarily and reopened them, waiting for the Hyuuga to make her move.

Red eyes stared back at her as she calculated what to do in her head. Like Sasuke and the Byakugan, she has never had the experience of fighting someone with the Sharingan. Biting her lip, she performed the hand seals needed before activating her own doujutsu, taking in the abundance of chakra circulating his system and passing through the various chakra points that she could clearly see. Knowing that he was waiting for her to initiate something, she gave in and made the first move by charging at him, chakra laced palm out and ready to strike.

Shifting to his left when she drew closer, he easily avoided her attack as he moved to keep dodging, wanting to test and see her fighting style. She moved in an expected pattern, from striking left, to right, to jabbing left two more times and repeating. After a few minutes of evading, he grew bored of her antics and finally made a move to counterstrike, blocking one of her hits with his forearm as he grabbed her wrist to twist it behind her back.

"You're too predictable," he calmly stated, with his iron grip still on her wrists and back towards his front. "It's pathetic. I expected more of a challenge."

Not one to be effected by words, Hinata struggled in his grasp as he all but obliged to let her go, eyeing her cautiously as she settled back into the standard Hyuuga stance. Being the good shinobi that he was, he didn't miss the post marred by heavy dents behind the girl when he first saw her and the dog boy. Sure she was slow, but he was faster than the average genin. The girl obviously still had the strength and potential; so where was it now?

"Are you only good when you're hitting a log, or is that really the best you can do? Either way, you need to step your game up."

At hearing his words, Hinata struggled to not let anything on her face show. Memories of the fight that took place with her sister that morning all of a sudden rushed through her mind, along with various other flashbacks to other fights she'd been in; some with Neji, and some with her father. It was hard; proving yourself was one thing... but trying to uphold a facade was another.

With no response to his comment, she settled for a different approach as she back flipped away from him, putting some distance in between them. Reaching into her weapons pouch while in midair during her third flip, she quickly drew out and threw several shuriken in his direction, which he easily counteracted by throwing his own kunai. Accurately knocking off their targets, loud clings of metal to metal resounded in the air as kunai and shiruken clashed before falling to the ground. She watched as the Uchiha closed his eyes, noting him make some sort of mental decision before he opened his eyes again, this time in a glare towards her.

With the speed she witnessed — or rather, failed to witness — during his race with Team 7, he disappeared and reappeared in front of her face before she even had time to react, punching her in the chest so that she stumbled back a few feet. Still standing, the Hyuuga barely had time to defensively raise her arms in front of her chest as Sasuke relentlessly sent punch after kick at her, her stance weakening with every hit.

"If you won't _really_ put up a fight, then fine. I'll just _make_ you."

With eyes widened at his threat, Hinata struggled to focus on merely eluding his hits, not wanting to fight back — _refusing_ to counter. The boy in turn did not miss the way her eyes widened, and how her palms clenched into fists as if she were preparing to attack back with a punch. Where she had anticipated him to high kick her where her chest was, the brunette switched tactics as he unexpectedly dropped down to the ground and swung a low kick to her legs, making her trip and land on her backside.

The Uchiha kicked _hard_, Hinata thought with tightly closed eyes and a grimace on her face. She let out a low muffled cry as she felt pain shoot up her back, but stubbornly refused herself to just lay there and lose like this. Attempting to push herself to sit up on her elbows, she found herself unable to move as a heavy weight gripped her arms and held her down. Opening her eyes, she found Sasuke staring _very _closely at her face. He was so close, that she could clearly see the three tomoe spinning wildly in his red eyes, as well as the scowl adorned on his features.

"I don't know why you're holding back, Hyuuga. But if this was a real fight, you would've been dead a _long_ time ago."

Since it was obvious he was stronger than her and that wiggling free was not going make him loosen his grip on her arms, Hinata turned her head away to the side as she closed her eyes. Was she really that _obvious_? How could he just call her out like that? Regardless of what he said, he didn't know the situation she was in. He had no right.

"You're h-hurting m-me, Uchiha-san..." she barely said above a breath underneath him. Were it not for the close proximity, he probably wouldn't have heard her. While she couldn't see his glare, Hinata could still very well feel it as he refused to budge.

"Hn. I don't see why you bother to get up." he ignored her previous statement. "If you're not going to fight, you might as well stay down, like the pathetic excuse of a kunoichi that you are."

While Hinata prided herself in being strong in a concealed and non-overt way, she wasn't that strong; and she could only take so much fire before she erupted into flames and exploded. At hearing his words, she felt the pent up frustration and anger course through her veins as she decided on the moment, just for this _one _time, that it was okay to let down her guard. She's had _enough_.

While he effectively held her arms down and prevented them from moving, the Uchiha failed to secure her legs, and as such, was surprised when he felt a kick towards his lower areas. Immediately releasing his hold on her, he remained hunched over for a few moments with arms crossing over his abdomen in a kneeling position as Hinata freely slid out of his grasp. Back to standing upon her two feet, with head bowed down, she spoke up again in a quiet, yet stern voice.

"You don't know me, Uchiha-san."

At hearing her words, Sasuke rose to slowly stand, still grasping his lower stomach. When he looked up, all he could make out was the dark blue hues of her large indigo fringe covering the spot where her pale pupiless eyes should be. He heard the change of tone and voice when she said those four little words; it intrigued him to an extent, yet it left him with a feeling of confusion. After a few more moments of silence ensued, someone spoke up somewhere to the side before he could get the chance to say anything further.

"Haha, man Sasuke, she got you with that last move when she sent you that kick!"

Releasing his hold on his abdomen, he turned his head to meet the annoying grin of a blonde with a sour looking Inuzuka beside him. In the current moment, he could empathize with the dog nin.

"Shut up, idiot." The Uchiha grunted, as a scowl enveloped his face. Before he was tempted to go over there and _make_ the continuously laughing blonde shut up, Kakashi spoke up from behind him as all four genin turned to face the jounin. "That was a pretty good kick, Hinata. It didn't seem like he expected it."

While Sasuke continued to frown, the Hyuuga girl uttered a soft 'thanks' as Naruto's happy expression quickly changed into a worried one. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! What's wrong with Sakura-chan!" The blonde pointed to the unconscious pink-haired girl lying on the grass. No visible signs of physical injury were present, and if someone weren't to know any better, it looked like the girl was simply taking a nap on the ground. Kakashi smiled slightly beneath his mask.

"Oh, I just put her in some genjutsu is all. She'll come to it in a little bit, no worries."

Though his sensei reassured him, the blonde still maintained a skeptical look as he regarded his fallen team mate. When he heard his stomach suddenly grumble in a loud fashion though, his expression quickly turned back to happy again as he grabbed Kiba by the shoulders, placing him under an arm. "Man, all this sparring sure worked me up an appetite! I hope you have enough money there on ya, Kiba!" Naruto smiled slyly, as the Inuzuka grimaced. From the inside of his jacket, Akamaru whined as he snuggled closer to Kiba's chest.

"Yeah yeah, whatever..." he sighed in defeat. Turning his head to look away, his eyes landed on Hinata's figure. "Yo, Hinata, wanna come eat at Ichiraku's? It's on me, I'm treating everybody."

The indigo-haired heiress shook her head, "I-I'd really like to, but I really should be getting home..." she politely declined, glancing at the darkened sky and the setting sun. It was probably nearing 7 PM if it wasn't already, and she still had to meet with her father. Hinata mentally sighed at the fact.

"Ah, that's too bad. Alrighty then, maybe next time," Kiba smiled at her, though a part of him was selfishly happy that it was one less person to pay for. _Damn_ that Naruto.

"Well, what about you teme? You in? The bet included the whole team," Naruto explained. Sasuke in turn merely closed his eyes, turning so that his back faced them. "No. I have other things to do."

Naruto frowned. "Aw, come on! It's _free_!" he put extra emphasis on the last word. When the Uchiha failed to respond, Naruto let him be and didn't bother to ask a third time. If he didn't want any ramen, it was his loss. There would be simply more for him, then! Turning his head towards his sensei, Naruto asked him the same question.

"Thanks but no thanks," he began, "but I have my own business to attend to as well." he stated while fingering the little orange book within his vest. "Plus, I need to drop off Sakura at her place so she won't freak out when she wakes up later alone in the forest at night." Moving to pick up the unconscious pink-haired kunoichi and slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, he reminded their team that they'd have training at the same time at their usual place before making a hand sign and disappearing in a poof of grey swirls.

With nothing else to do, Hinata moved to start on her trek back home, bidding Naruto and Kiba a good evening before she left. She didn't see Sasuke anywhere after Kakashi was done speaking, so she assumed he already went ahead and went to wherever it was he intended to go to. Walking in the direction out of the training grounds, she began to lose herself in thoughts as the silence of the night hung in the air, creating a rather pensive environment around her. Thoughts on Hanabi, her mother, the clan, and her recent spar with the Uchiha occupied her mind as she neared the crossroad at the end of the forest. It truly did unnerve her that he was able to almost clearly see through her; she couldn't afford to slip up on her part. Too much was at stake for any mistakes, and she just had to be more careful. Turning left, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice inquisitive dark eyes following her retreating figure from behind. Shaking his head once, he stuffed his hands in his pockets before continuing to walk in the opposite direction.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys. So yes, I'm aware I'm starting a new story even though I have yet to update and finish my other ones, but I couldn't help but get this concept out of my head so I naturally just had to write it and post it to get it out of my system! Do not fret though, as I have said before and will assure you again, all of my stories will be completed at one point or another. I'm not giving up on anything.

On the other hand, before posting this chapter up, I did a search on FF stories for anything similar to my concept and have found that there's already a story identical to this called **'Snake Heiress'** by Acumichi. I've never read the story before, and I've already P/M'ed her saying that it's not my intention to steal any concept she's already written — and if it were the case, I assure you, it's by pure coincidence. Just to save you guys from any misunderstandings/accusations, there ya go.

With that said, please leave a review and let me know what you think! I was going to include Hinata and her father's meeting included here, but I figured I'd save it for next time since this chapter turned out to be really long. I wrote this all in _two sittings_ by the way, so yeah. I'm tired lol. This was also my first time writing out a battle/fight scene, so hopefully I didn't do too bad! This story relates a lot to Hyuuga clan politics, so naturally as I said before, everything's slow-paced for the most part. I don't really know how to say anymore without giving too much away, so if you still want me to be specific I guess you can shoot me a P/M. Until next chapter!

— Lecs


	2. II Mission: Part 1

Author's Note:**  
**

A very special thanks to** Lili-AnimeFreakk**,** Veraozao**,** nobodyhere**,** Guest**, and **Snake Eyes** for the reviews so far. :)

I based this chapter off episode 6 of the Naruto OVA's, hence it's familiarity. Some parts are twisted of course, so it's not entirely the same, just the overall concept. If you guys don't know what I'm talking about and are interested, just quickly search it up on YouTube. Also, _please don't forget to leave a review when you're done reading_, good or bad. I'm thankful for all the favorites and alerts so far, but I really would appreciate feedback even more **—** don't be shy to let me know what you like, what I'm doing wrong, et cetera! The story can only get better from what your opinions; I not only write to entertain you guys, but I also do this for myself to improve as a writer. With that said, thanks for taking your time to read this and enjoy the next part!

* * *

**—**

** CURSED**

**—**

**by: Lecs  
**

* * *

_Summary: AU. We all know Orochimaru's curse seal was what pushed Sasuke to ultimately run away for power. Instead of sealing the youngest Uchiha though, what if he sealed the Hyuuga heiress instead?**  
**_

* * *

**II. Mission: Part 1  
**

_Her movements were light and fast as she moved to dodge her hits in an evenly speed. Sweat drenched her skin, causing the loose black shirt to stick to her in an uncomfortable way. She couldn't remember how long the fight had been going on at this point, nor did she really remember how it all began in the first place. _

_"Ha!" her opponent cried, as she managed to jab her in the right side of her chest when she was distracted by her thoughts. Hinata felt the rush of chakra invade her tenketsu as she fell to her knees, deeply breathing in and out and clutching the part of her that was stricken. _

_"You're weak, aneki." Though it was said softly, it was far from lacking in strength. Looking up from her position, she was met with Hanabi's face, though the expression she wore was foreign to her. It was an expression she would usually see adorning their father._

_As if shifting in accordance to her thoughts, the environment suddenly swirled around her, contorting and shaping itself out so that she was now before a dark cherrywood desk. Plain white walls absent of any traces of design or pictures stared back at her blankly, as she made out the two brown leather couches to her sides from her peripheral view. The open window behind the desk revealed a darkened navy blue atmosphere, signifying that it was night time._

_She was now in her father's office._

_When she heard the clearing of someone's throat, she looked up to the new person standing before her where her sister once was. She stared back into cold, emotionless white eyes._

_"You disappoint me, Hinata."_

_Standing before her in a deep mossy green cloak over majestic white robes was Hiashi Hyuuga himself, a frown etched upon his visage. She didn't know when she got up from her kneeling position, or when the pain from Hanabi's blow suddenly went away. She noted that the loose black sparring clothes she was previously wearing were now replaced with her usual ninja attire of her cream-colored jacket and navy blue bottoms._

_"In less than a couple of months the Chunnin Exams will be taking place, and you've progressed little to none."_

_Biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from talking back, Hinata turned her head away to the side so that she wasn't looking at him anymore. She couldn't bear to. His words bounced around in an echo as if they were in some sort of cave instead of a room, and she felt the knots in her stomach get tighter when she felt that she already knew what he was going to say next._

_"If I see no change soon, you know the fate that awaits you ... "_

_**'Yes, I do know.'**_

_"Have you already given up, Hinata?"_

_**'No, I haven't!'**_

_"Have you no pride in the fact that your sister is excelling better than you have progressed **—** have you no shame that you cannot live up to our clan name as heiress?"_

_Like her other responses, she kept silent without one word verbally uttered as he went on. She had tuned out the rest of what he had to say after the fourth question, screaming what she desperately wanted to say inside her mind._

**_'I do, I do have pride otousan... but as much as it truly does mean everything to me to live up to the clan's — to _your_ expectations, there is something more important to me that I have to protect... you do not understand... '_**

_He really didn't._

_A light gust of wind from the window breezed by her right then, and it struck her as peculiar though she did not have time to think about it much when her father's voice brought her back into reality. She hadn't noticed the rate of which her heart was beating, almost twenty times over its normal pace. A familiar surge of dread and fear swept through her as light beads of sweat formed upon her forehead, and all of a sudden it was too hot in the room. _

_"You know the Hyuuga ways Hinata, and I will not hesitate in executing it should it have to come down to it."_

_A huge lump out of nowhere was suddenly lodged in her throat, and she struggled to breathe when she couldn't swallow it down. She _knew_ what he was going to say next..._

_Before another word could escape the Hyuuga patriarch's lips, a sudden scream pierced the air as both Hyuuga's turned their heads in the direction of which it came from.  
_

_Darkness suddenly swirled around her as Hiashi vanished from sight, and it took a moment for Hinata to realize that everything around her was changing again. The smell of something burning invaded her senses, causing her already tight stomach to constrict and flutter even further. It was a horrible stench, yet she couldn't make out what was mixed with it. __Ever so slowly, everything gradually became clearer and a form of a person began to materialize before her._  


_When she realized who it was and what they've done **—** what she had let happened, she felt her heart stop.  
_

_She screamed.  
_

**— X —**

Over three weeks later, Hinata stood by the ever so familiar post in Team 8's training grounds along with her fellow team mates. Kiba was currently occupied messing around with Akamaru and Shino was as silent as ever, leaning back against the post as they patiently waited for their sensei to arrive. Half an hour had already passed by causing worry to stir between the three genin, but since they couldn't do anything but wait, they did just that.

During the peaceful time that elapsed **—** save for Kiba's growls and Akamaru's barks in the distance **—** the kunoichi of Team 8 fell into deep thoughts concerning her most recent dream **—** or rather nightmare, to be more accurate. Though it was true her father's words from that night haunted her, she didn't know why she had that nightmare all of a sudden. It seemed out of nowhere for it to just occur.

She could still remember the way she woke up yelling around 3 AM, drenched in a light sweat with her covers all askew; she could still _feel_ the way her stomach dropped and the painful way her heart accelerated. She could still _hear_ the ear-splitting scream that pierced the air, and the torrid heat of the borderline sizzling room that the peculiar cool gust of wind couldn't seem to alleviate. She could still _smell_ the awful burning smell, and she could still _see_ the horrid mental image of**—**

"Hinata?"**  
**

Startled from the sudden outburst of the voice, she was brought back into reality by Shino, who had a hand on her shoulder and his face turned towards her in concern. "You are hyperventilating, are you alright?"

Feeling herself indeed breathe in and out at a rather frantic pace, she opted to nod as an answer to his question since she still needed a few moments to get herself back together. As patient as ever, the bug nin let her take her time before trying again after a few minutes to ask what caused her to go into a panic attack.

Not really wanting to talk about it, but on the same time not wanting to outright lie to her friend who was obviously worried about her, Hinata shook her head once before replying, still a bit breathless. "I-I'm f-fine, Shino... I was just thinking a-about things, and one thing led to another... "

As the most understanding and keenest one of the group, Shino didn't miss the way Hinata purposefully kept her answer vague; but he didn't bother to press on, opting for a nod instead and a tightening his clutch on her shoulder before pulling his hand away. If she didn't want to talk about it, then he was not one to force it of her like a certain dog nin probably would **—** albeit doing it out of good intentions. No. If it was truly something big and serious, it was all the more likely Hinata would come to him and Kiba on her own. He would let her tell them whatever it was on her own time, when she's ready.

Hinata in turn did not miss the curious yet skeptical look Shino gave her behind his shades, but was thankful when he seemed satisfied with her general reply. She knew he knew something was bugging her, but he respected her space and didn't push it. She internally debated with herself on whether it was worth telling him or Kiba **—** it was stressful enough with her thinking about it, she didn't want anyone else to be burdened with her and her problems that she couldn't get under control. Mentally sighing, she told herself that she just had to learn to deal with it better; and she would.

She was broken from further contemplation when a strong burst of wind gusted out of nowhere around her and Shino, causing Kiba and Akamaru to look from where they were standing and make their way over to their team mates. As leaves swirled and danced with the breeze, a figure of a woman with black hair and red eyes slowly emerged before them as the wind and leaves died down. Kurenai smiled.

"Hello guys, sorry I'm so late. It turns out we have a change of plans for today, instead of training we're going on a mission."

"Alright, some action!" Kiba cheered, while Akamaru barked. The jounin nodded her head.

"Yes; it's a C-rank mission this time. I'll give you more details later when we're on the road out of the village. Go and gather your things in preparation to leave an hour from now, and meet up in front of the village gates."

"Hai!" Team 8 responded, as all four shinobi dispersed to prepare.

**— X —**

They had been walking for nearly an hour as they neared their destination to Mori Village, which as the place was named after, was situated near a dense area of woods. Leading his team mates behind their sensei, Kiba let out an impatient growl.

"Man, are we almost to the village already? This is taking forever," the Inuzuka complained. Kurenai tossed a glance back over her shoulder at the brunette.

"We're less than a couple miles away from the village; but we have to travel a few miles more from there to investigate the area of the woods where our client disappeared."

From behind Kiba, Shino spoke up. "By 'disappeared', what exactly do they mean? Did our client get lost?"

Fingering something in her pocket, Kurenai took out a small piece of paper and tossed it back to her team, with Hinata making the catch. With Kiba slowing his pace down to peer at the picture on one side of the Hyuuga while Shino looked from the other, they all took in the brown-eyed blonde-haired woman in what looked like to be her late 20's, carrying an equally sandy blonde-haired child that appeared to be no older than 7 or 8.

"Ayame Nokatori, the name of our client, was reported to supposedly have been abducted," Kurenai began. "That photograph is genuine, straight from the kid who reported her mother missing. Word has it that the area has been recently housing bandits. A few must have got to her while she was passing through."

Satisfied with her answer, Shino mutely nodded as the four shinobi remained silent for the majority of their walk. Before they knew it, tall structures in the distance came into view signifying their arrival to the village; Kiba nearly jumped for joy as he sped ahead of his team and ran the rest of the way towards the village's gates. Behind him, Kurenai smiled as Hinata laughed at the dog nin's eagerness, Shino simply shaking his head.

"Finally, we're here!" the brunette exclaimed, as Akamaru barked happily from inside his chest. The whole trip here, Akamaru had stayed inside the Inuzuka's jacket so that he could conserve his energy, but not being able to move from one spot had taken its toll on the dog as he wiggled and squirmed against his master, causing Kiba to smile a little and unzip his coat to let the dog out.

"There ya go, boy. I know, you gotta stretch out those legs after being cooped up for such a long while," the brunette said in sympathy. Barking in agreement towards his master, Kiba didn't miss how Akamaru suddenly started sniffing the air. Mimicking his actions, the Inuzuka tried to pinpoint what his dog was searching for when all of a sudden, Akamaru ran away from him.

"Hey, Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, "Where are you going?" Tailing behind him, Kiba grew even more curious as Akamaru failed to respond. When the dog suddenly stopped in front of a little girl, he slowed his pace down until he came to a stop before the child as well. Sniffing the air and looking back at the kid, Kiba slowly began to understand; dark brown eyes, sandy blonde hair...

"Ano, mister?" the girl looked up to him curiously, eyeing the dog in equal interest as well from the side. She was about a good head shorter than himself, with her short blonde locks divided into two pigtails tied by green ribbons at the ends. "Is something wrong?"

Kiba smiled a bit at her cautiousness, though he couldn't blame her with the recent circumstances. "Nah, nothing's wrong. Sorry to bother you miss, Akamaru here just got a little too excited when he recognized your scent."

"My... scent?" The girl asked, confused.

"Yeah, from the picture of you and your mother," Kiba replied, as the girl's eyes slowly widened at his statement in realization.

"W-wait... so then, that must mean... you're the one who's going to find my okaasan?" The girl asked, her eyes slightly shining from what Kiba guessed as tears of hope and joy. Akamaru barked beside him, which in turn led him to look in the direction he was looking at. A few steps behind him were the rest of Team 8, just catching up with him. The little girl saw them arrive as well, eyeing Kiba and the rest who wore identical hitai ite before making a mental connection and speaking up again, still in disbelief that it was too good to be true.

"You guys are really going to find my okaasan and bring her back home?" she repeated. Before anyone else could reply, Kurenai beat them to it with a smile. "Yes, we are sweetie. Don't you worry."

At hearing the jounin's words, a wide, sincere smile came over the girl's face, which in turn made Hinata smile as she eyed her. The love for her mother was obvious and radiated through the atmosphere; it wasn't hard to tell that the person they were looking for was someone **—** if not the most important one **—** that held a very special place in the girl's heart. Hinata's own heart swelled in empathy.

"My name is Keiko, thank you so much for this!" the girl cheered loudly. Rubbing the back of his head with a hand, Kiba smiled sheepishly.

"It's no big deal, Keiko-chan," the dog nin started.

"**—**we will bring her back for you," interrupted Shino.

"—we promise." Hinata ended, looking at Keiko straight in the eyes. Keiko merely nodded, trusting in the foreign ninjas' words. Kurenai spoke up again after a few moments.**  
**

"We better get a move on then, time is rather essential if our client's really abducted."

With a nod in unison from her team, they took no more than two steps when Keiko spoke up again, interrupting them.

"W-wait! Can I come with you guys? I really want to be able to help out and rescue my okaasan too!" the girl pleaded, with two hands folded and clasped together in front of her chest. "P-please..."

Before Kurenai could speak and let the girl down easy, Hinata made a move to walk back to Keiko and took her small hands in her own. With her hands on either side of hers, she knelt down before her as she looked back into brown eyes again before speaking.

"It's very dangerous, Keiko-chan. Believe me... I understand where you're coming from when you say you want to help find your mother," Hinata's hands grew a little tighter on Keiko's, "but it's too dangerous for you to come."

"B-but I want to..." Keiko sniffed. The tears in her eyes grew evident.

"I know you do. But if the bandits catch you too though, it would be more of a problem." The Hyuuga reasoned. Eyes slowly widening in realization, Keiko slowly nodded her head in understanding; though she still didn't like it.

"Do you understand why you can't come with us now?" Hinata inquired. Even though she nodded, she wanted to hear verbal confirmation from the girl's mouth herself.

"...yes, I understand..." the blonde said quietly. Hinata nodded and smiled in turn, getting back up from her kneeling position to stand, still holding the girl's hands in hers. She raised them up to give them one last squeeze.

"We'll find your okaasan, you have our word. Just leave it to us."

And with those words, brown eyes watched Hinata as she turned back to the rest of her team and took off.

**— X —**

Treading deeper into the woods with their sensei trailing ahead, Kiba was relentless in praising Hinata for the sudden boldness she displayed in front of Keiko, managing to comfort her while not stuttering even once!

"You sure had some confidence back there Hinata," Kiba grinned as he eyed the Hyuuga's cheeks slowly turn pink.

"W-well, I really could understand and relate to where she was coming from," reasoned Hinata, taking a new found interest in staring at some random spot on the ground.

"Yeah, I get it. The way you were talking though, you almost sounded like that punk Naruto!" he exclaimed, Akamaru walking by his side and barking in agreement.

Pink cheeks turned into a deep shade of red in a matter of seconds at her team mate's comparison to the Kyuubi vessel. "A-ano, I-I w-was just trying to reassure K-Keiko-chan so she wouldn't have t-to worry!" she squeaked out, mentally cursing herself for stuttering so many times. In her defense though, all she could think about at the moment was golden blonde hair and ocean blue eyes...

"Heh heh, I'm just messing with you Hinata!" the Inuzuka chuckled, playfully putting an arm around the still blushing Hyuuga's shoulders. On her other side, Shino wore a knowing smile, though no one could see it since his coat collar was too high.

Looking back over her shoulder, Kurenai stopped at a spot few meters ahead of them in the distance as they quickened their steps to meet up with her. She spoke when they finally caught up.

"Okay, we'll make this our reconnaissance point."

"Hai!" Team 8 responded, though Kurenai suddenly felt something peculiar in the distance.

"Alright, let's get this done quickly!" the Inuzuka exclaimed, punching a fist in the air as Akamaru barked and wagged his tail in turn.

"Hold on," the jounin interrupted before any of them could move from their spots. "Wait here for a sec until I get back."

Before another word could be said, Kurenai leaped upwards from tree branch to tree branch in a direction west from their location, leaving three confused genin behind. After a couple moments of silence, the Inuzuka was the first to break it with a small huff.

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Shino voiced out loud to no one in particular. Processing his question, Hinata fought the sudden bad feeling rising in her stomach as she replied honestly.

"...I don't know."

**— X —**

Her steps were quick and graceful as she moved from tree to tree in a rapid speed to where the odd waves of energy were coming from.

_'I knew I sensed something amiss...'_ her thoughts trailed off, and before she could think for another moment a sudden scream caught her attention in the distance.

"Help me!"

Making her way to the source of the cry, Kurenai softly landed behind a tree as she peered around it to come face with a woman running away from a wolf. The same exact woman who happened to be her team's client.

"Ahhh!" Came the shrill of the blonde, who had tripped and was helpless to get up from the approaching wolf before her; leering and snarling with it's fanged teeth barred out for everyone to see. It was as black as her hair in color, and pretty large size. Thinking quickly, Kurenai pulled something out from her weapons pouch as she tossed it into the air and shouted down:

"Hold your breath!"

Acting automatically, the blonde did as she was told as the object Kurenai had thrown suddenly landed by close to her and let out a gray haze of smoke. The approaching wolf in turn growled viciously as it backed off and scampered away from the clearing. When the smoke subsided, Kurenai jumped down from her spot on the tree and gracefully landed beside the fallen woman.

"That was a close call, Nokatori-san."

Still in shock, the woman blinked a bit as she tried to get her breathing back to normal before answering and looking up to the red-eyed brunette. "Arigatou," came her response a few moments later, proceeded by a question. "How do you know who I am?"

"I'm a shinobi from Konoha, I've been asked to find you," came her reply. Squatting down from her standing position so that she was level with the blonde who had still not gotten up, she decided that it was her turn to question her now. "Where have you been?"

Nokatori-san in turn grasped her head as if in pain, shaking it several times before she let out a frustrated sigh. "I... I don't know. I can't remember."

"You don't remember?" Puzzled with her response, Kurenai finally reached out a hand to help her stand up.

At the moment their hands grasped each others, a ground-shaking blinding blue light enveloped both women as Kurenai realized her mistake a moment too late.

**— X —**

"Woah, did you guys hear that?" Kiba inquired as the rumbles of what sounded like lightening clashing with the ground lingered in the air, and various chirping birds flew by in their direction in what it appeared were trying to _get away_ from something.

"Ahhh!"

A sudden high-pitched cry filled the air, and looking back in the direction of the source eyes widened in shock when all three genin spotted familiar sandy blonde hair on the ground far off in the distance, clutching her leg.

"Keiko-chan!" Hinata shouted, as her and her team mates started over to the fallen little girl. "I thought I told you to stay behind!"

"I-I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself from following... I just really thought that I could do something to help you guys!" she exclaimed.

With Kiba being the fastest one of the group, he easily made it before his team mates to help Keiko up when he suddenly smelled something... _off_ in the air. From beside him, he noticed Akamaru wince and almost whine as he stood by the two, torn between staying by his master's side and wanting to take a few steps back from... _something_... or rather...

Distracted from his thoughts and realizing it too late, he felt stinging pain shoot up the arm closest to Keiko when he was going to reach out and haul her up. Looking back towards her, his eyes widened in shock when he realized that _Keiko_ had bitten him **—** and still had her teeth sunken in! When she finally released, he _literally_ felt like he could do nothing but shift his eyes to look at Akamaru who had jumped to attack the girl on instinct, but was roughly thrown away several meters behind him with a strong push. Eyes moving to look back over his arm, he made out two even puncture marks located along his swelling wrist.

"P-Poison..." he grunted, feeling the burning sensation start to travel from his arm and spread to other areas of his body. It felt like his skin was on fire, and he struggled to breathe as his breaths became ragged and his vision quickly became cloudy. The last thing he could make out was that he was going under a delusion, and Keiko was suddenly transformed into a grotesque-looking women with dark green scales covering half of her face. The last thing he heard was his muffled name being shouted in the background before everything went black.

**— X —**

They were still frozen in shock at the scene before them, seeing their team mate slip into unconsciousness and into the arms of the imposter-Keiko.

"Kiba!" Hinata yelled in anger and worry, as she willed her body to move and do something to save her friend. To her side, Shino turned his focus towards something in the trees as he instinctively stopped Hinata's attempts to run forward, tackling her to the side so that they both landed on their knees by a tree. An explosion suddenly manifested before them, causing dust and dirt to kick up in the air around them as Hinata realized Shino had just saved her from a paper bomb. Both slowly rising to stand, Shino continued to eye the area around them.

"Show yourself," the Aburame commanded.

Through the smoke, two more figures, both male, emerged next to the Snake Lady with Kiba still in her arms. The ninja to her left, wearing a mask similar to how Kakashi wore one to cover the majority of his face, held an equally unconscious Akamaru by the scruff. The female in turn smiled wickedly at the two genin.

"You're with the Yuhi lady, are you not?"

"What if we are?"

Her smile turned into a feral grin at the response. "We were wondering if you guys would like to play for a while."

Having enough of their talk, Shino made a move to send a swarm of his bugs out to the enemy. Quickly reacting, the three nin jumped up onto a tree branch above them as the burly red headed guy next to the female's right suddenly released a spit of acid from his mouth, targeting Shino's swarm which caused them to disperse.

"Now now, let's not get too hasty," the female chided. Jumping further up into the trees with her fellow shinobi beside her, she let out a low chuckle before speaking.

"How about a game of 'try to get them back'?"

Not standing around to wait for them to try anything more, Hinata shot several shuriken in their direction, exploding into a poof of grey smoke once they came upon contact with the three ninja.

_Shadow clones._

Running her way up the tree to the spot where they once vacated, Shino was beside her in a few seconds. The reverberations of cackling lingered in the air in an eerie echo.

"You kiddies better hurry if you want them back alive!" the female called out in the distance, signifying that they were already ways ahead of them and were still running. Before Hinata could make a move to chase after them, Shino held her back with a hand, earning him a questioning look.

"Hold on Hinata. They're expecting us to chase after them; it might be best to wait for Kurenai-senei."

In a rare moment of boldness, which she was displaying more often than usual for the day, she turned her body away from Shino's grasp as she shook her head with a determined look in her eyes. "No Shino, we have to keep Kiba within our sights!"

And with that, the kunoichi took off after the enemy nin in pursuit of their friend. Shino in turn was forced to follow, with a frown upon his hidden visage in thought.

_'Where is Kurenai-sensei at a time like this?'_

**— X —**

With her palm laying flat down onto the dark ground, the final moments of her attack left various cherry blossom petals to swirl around her. After a few blank moments of nothing seeming to happen, the ground lit up a light blue in a matter of seconds, outlining the circular seals that bound her to the strange place. It seemed that it was the only effect her attack had.**  
**

Turning her focus towards the very center of the many rings encompassing each smaller circle, Kurenai looked back to the unmoving figure.

_'I didn't expect to find her body in a spell circle.'_

Slowly walking towards her unconscious client, she knelt down beside her in closer observation.

_'My only way out of here... is to help her.'_

Drawing a kunai from her weapons pouch, she quickly slit her thumb open and smeared the now free-flowing red liquid over the ground beside Nokatori-san, writing out several kanji characters while reflecting over her thoughts._  
_

_'But who is capable of wielding such power? Why are they holding me up?'_

_**— X —**  
_

_'This looks bad.'_

Stopping momentarily at a tree branch, Shino looked around for any sign of ninja by the area, or more specifically for a sign that anyone was approaching.

_'Kurenai-sensei should have come along by now. She must be in trouble.'_

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he proceeded to once more jump along from tree branch to tree branch. He could barely make out the enemy's chakra signature far off in the distance ahead of him, with Hinata a few kilometers trailing behind them. Readjusting his shades with a hand, he put more chakra into the soles of his feet to pick up more speed._  
_

_'I guess it's up to us.'_

**— X —**_  
_

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Author's Note:

Hopefully you guys caught on to the reference in Hinata's flashback where she was talking with her father. That was actually vague bits to the conversation she was supposed to have with Hiashi from last chapter that I didn't include. Just like I laid out for the start of this story, count on some time skips for future chapters here and there. They won't be long ones like years wise, but count on skipping a couple of days/weeks/months. I also hope that none of the OC's I used were too bad, it's my first time to use them since I needed some characters to play the needed parts.

I originally planned to write out the full mission and how it went in this one chapter, but I really wanted to post the next chapter up soon for those of you who were eager to read more of this story; and also, even if I did write out the full mission, this chapter probably would have been around 10,000+ in words. I thought it was better if it was broken down this way haha. If you want me to upload part 2 soon, please please please —**  
**

**Remember to review! :)  
**

— Lecs**  
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